A Time to Heal
by Starlight Rose
Summary: *spoliers for the end of the manga* Takes place at the end of the Kodocha manga when Hayama is living in the US and the two are learning to be separated. It fills in the big gaps at the end of the manga about Hayama and Sana's lives and will extend a bit


A Time to Heal  
By: Starlight Rose  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: Miho Obana owns Kodocha and it's characters and Yoshizumi Wataru owns Yuu and Marmalade Boy. I own nothing except my stories.  
  
A.N. Ok this will be a long fic with several chapters. I plan on expanding on the end of the Kodocha manga and also extending the story a bit past it. It will jump back and forth from Akito and Sana with each of them learning to be apart and to live their own lives and heal. I hope you enjoy and review. I put Yuu in there as a joke mainly because Kodocha is often referred to as MB on speed, but Yuu's presence is a serious one.  
  
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Hayama Akito stood next to his father and sister as they were about to depart for America. Two or three years in America, Akito reflected. Two or three years without chopping Tsuyoshi on the head when he went berserk or got out of line with Sana. Three years of not seeing Sana's cheerful face, hearing her loud voice, insulting her and fighting with her. Hayama wondered if he could survive the peace and quite that this trip promised.  
  
Turning around to face his friends that had come to see him off he told them in his normal cool manner, "Bye."  
  
"Hayama..." Sana said quietly before bursting out shouting, "I'm going to stay a virgin so you better not cheat on me!"  
  
Akito stood and stared at his insane girlfriend sweatdropping at her comments and keeping himself from falling down in shock as his father and Sana's manager, Mr. Sunglasses, as he liked to refer to him, had done. He noticed the people staring at them and whispering comments to each other and repressed a smirk. Sana would always be Sana. Crazy, cheerful, and kindhearted and Akito knew he would miss fighting with her, being dragged along in her schemes, annoying her, but most of all just missing her.   
  
He stuck his tongue out at her and turned to leave when Sana told him smiling gently, "I'm going to work hard at everything! So you work hard too!" He nodded his head and smiled softly at her and boarded the plane that would take him to America where his hand could be healed, knowing that until his healed Sana would always carry a heavy burden in her heart. For her he would work hard. For her he would not allow himself to give up. No. Matter. What.  
  
He looked around for his seat and found it. It was next to the window and Akito grimaced in distaste. He had no desire whatsoever to see the view from the plane while they were in the air. In fact he wanted to push the thought of being thousands of feet above the earth as far from his mind as he possibly could since just thinking about it was making him feel sick. Being reminded of it by sitting next to the window was the last thing he needed. He could have always switched seats with either Natsumi or his father who were sitting in the row in front of him, but he wanted to be by himself for now. Sighing in frustration Akito fell into his seat, pulled down the shade, and closed his eyes and decided to resolutely ignore the window.  
  
His reverie was broken suddenly by a gentle tap on his shoulder and a deep voice asking him, "Excuse me, but would you mind switching seats with me?"  
  
Akito looked up to see a handsome young man with dark blond hair and brown eyes smiling politely down at him. The young man had apparently attracted the attention of several of the people around him seeing as how several of girls on the plane were looking at him with looks of appreciation. Hayama stared at the man for a few moments feeling like he was looking at an older version of himself. Seeing the expectant look on the young man's face, Akito shrugged nonchalantly while feeling relieved to be relieved of his seat. He got up and allowed the man to take his seat as he took the aisle seat.  
  
The man smiled gratefully as he got into the seat and turned to face Akito extending his hand and introducing himself, "I'm Matsuura Yuu. Thanks for letting me that this seat."  
  
Akito looked at the hand a few moments and could hear Sana telling him to be polite. He took Yuu's hand in his left hand and said "Hayama Akito." Yuu nodded his head in acknowledgement then dropped his hand and opened up the window blind to stare out of it.  
  
Akito closed his eyes and attempted to sleep but the captain's voice on over the intercom and said, "We are about to take off now. Please fasten your seatbelts and put your seats into an upright position. Sighing warily Akito did so and then closed his eyes and tried to block out the thought of them lifting off and ascending thousands of meters into the air. It was easier to do now since he was no longer sitting by the window but he still felt himself going sick as he felt the plane launch itself off the ground. He looked over at his seatmate to see him staring calmly out of the window with a sad wistful look on his face. In his hand was a little gold medallion.  
  
Akito looked away leaving the young man to his reflections. Once they were airborne he closed his eyes and this time he fell into a dreamless sleep. He was awoken sometime later by a soft metallic chink. He looked over at Yuu and saw him fast asleep though a sad expression marred his handsome face. Akito looked about him trying to find the source of the sound that had awoken him. Finally looking down at the floor he saw the medallion that Yuu had been holding earlier. He assumed that the sound of the medallion hitting the floor after falling out of Yuu's hand was the cause of the noise. He bent down and picked it up.  
  
He was about to put it back into the young man's hand when the medallion fell open revealing a picture of Yuu with holding a girl with mahogany hair like Sana's and the same smile. The girl wasn't as pretty as Sana and her hair was shorter, but still the resemblance to his girlfriend was uncanny especially the bright innocent smile. Akito gasped in surprise at seeing a smile so much like the one that he missed already. His gasp caused his seatmate to awaken and look at him asking, "Are you alright? I heard you gasp."  
  
Akito nodded his head and held out the medallion to Yuu. Yuu looked at it sadly for a few moments before taking it as Akito explained, "I found it on the floor."  
  
"I see." Yuu said softly, "But why did you gasp like that?"  
  
"No reason." Akito replied staring coldly at the man, "She just reminds me of someone I know."  
  
"Ah..." Yuu replied then grinned mischievously, "You mean that girl that was yelling at you 'I'm going to stay a virgin so you better not cheat on me'?"  
  
Akito blushed slightly at the question knowing the young man had it right on the nail. He turned to see if Yuu had noticed his blush to see him staring out the window once more holding the medallion in his hand. "Yeah, that was Sana, my idiot girlfriend. That girl in the picture has her smile. Is she your girlfriend?"  
  
Yuu looked sadly down at the picture again and replied, "She's my step-sister."  
  
Akito gave him a skeptical look and replied, "You two look closer than a siblings."  
  
Yuu laughed at the boy's statement and Akito wondered if he heard a hint of bitterness in the older boy's laugh. Yuu smiled sardonically at his younger counterpart and replied, "We dated for a while, but we just broke up."  
  
"She dumped you huh?" Akito asked blandly.  
  
Yuu shook his head sadly and turned to stare out the window once more. "I broke up with her and now I'm running away so I do not have to see her sad." Yuu said confiding in this young boy something that he had only confided in his closet friend.  
  
"Adults really are stupid." Akito mumbled then settled back into his seat. "If you like her then don't break up with her."  
  
"Adults are stupid, Hayama-kun. Adults complicate things." Yuu replied in a soft tone though Akito heard an undercurrent of bitterness in his voice.  
  
Akito did not know how to reply to something like that so he just sat back quietly and allowed himself to fall asleep once more. The bitterness in the young man's voice seemed to suggest he was talking about other adults rather than himself. Hayama wondered what would cause Yuu to break up with someone he had apparently loved a great deal, but he did not ask. He just hoped than something like that would not occur to him and Sana.  
  
When Akito awoke again Yuu was still staring out the window which was showing signs of the approaching morning. Akito pulled out a book and began reading. Eventually a stewardess pushing a cart full of trays approached them. Eyeing Yuu with interest. "Oh are you traveling to Los Angeles with your little brother? I think that is so cute." The stewardess commented to Yuu. Akito watched her trying to flirt with his seatmate and refrained from gagging.  
  
"No, I'm afraid we aren't related." Yuu replied smiling kindly before asking, "I presume that is our breakfast?"  
  
"Ah, yes!" The stewardess said smiling at Yuu and completely ignoring Akito. "We have pancakes with sausages and scrambled eggs, sausages, and toast. We also have cereal. What would you like to have?"  
  
"I'll have a cup of coffee please." Yuu said before nodding to Hayama and asking, "What would you like to have Hayama-kun?"   
  
"The eggs." Akito replied emotionlessly.  
  
The stewardess handed the two of them their food and Yuu thanked her before turning back around to stare out the window oblivious to the stewardess. After the woman left Yuu turned around to smile at Akito making Akito feel as if he had deliberately ignored the woman's advances on him. A crease appeared between Yuu's eyebrows as he watched Akito struggle with cutting his food. "What's wrong with your right hand?" Yuu asked in concern.  
  
Akito shrugged and replied, "I can't move it. The nerves are damaged or something."  
  
"Ah..." Yuu said before offering, "Would you like me to cut the stuff for you?"  
  
Akito glared at the older boy and replied coldly, "I do not need help. I can handle this myself."  
  
Yuu nodded and turned his head away. Akito continued trying to cut his food but the plate below him kept slipping since he could not steady it and he was clumsy with his left hand. Akito continued trying breathing hard with the exertions and frustration at his inability to do such a simple task. "I should have gotten cornflakes." He muttered to himself.  
  
He continued struggling with the food for a few moments before he saw a hand reach out to steady the plate for him. He looked up to see Yuu still staring out the window cup of coffee in hand. Akito allowed himself a small grateful smile for what the older man was offering him. He cut the sausages and began eating with Yuu holding the plate steady for him. When he was finished he dropped his utensils with an audible clink signaling for Yuu to release the plate.  
  
Yuu did so after a few minutes and then put his coffee down and picked up a magazine to begin reading. Two hours later the captain's voice came over the intercom and announced, "We will be arriving in about ten minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and place your seats in and upright position for landing. The local time is 11:12, we hope you have enjoyed your flight."  
  
Yuu turned to Akito after he had had fastened his seatbelt and extended his hand saying, "It was nice meeting you Hayama-kun. Good luck in the US."  
  
Akito took the offered hand and nodded his head in thanks before asking, "Where are you going?"  
  
"I'm not staying in LA. I'm going to be transferring planes to get to New York. I go to school at St. Andrews High School. If you're ever in New York feel free to look me up." Yuu said taking out a piece of paper and a pen and scribbling his name and address on it. "Good luck with your girlfriend too."  
  
Akito took the note as the plane landed. After the plane was safely on the ground Yuu reached up and got both his and Akito's bags. He handed Akito his bag and with a smile exited the plane. Akito followed after him. He stepped out of the plane and looked at the people rushing about the airport. His father and Nanami were waiting for him at the gate as he exited. Now was the time to start his new life in America.   



End file.
